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‘Saving Hope’ S5 Ep 8 review: Secrets revealed

Relationships and reputations are put to the test in “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” People sometimes try to mask their vulnerability, find escape in a daring persona, and keep secrets for the greater good. In some cases, individuals are only fooling themselves because if someone truly knows you, they can see through the facade. ‘Saving Hope’s’ latest episode explores a variety of these cases and shows the power of unconditional love.

Dawnof the Day

Poor Dawn has been put through the ringer time and again. Just when she’s happy with Zach and all seems to be going well in life, Thomas takes over Hope Zion and removes Dawn from her post as Chief of Surgery. Thomas must answer to the board for his grave dismissal of Eli King and Dawn anxiously awaits the outcome. Surprisingly, the board wants Thomas to stay on.

Thomas tells Dawn that he resigned because he’s still grappling with the consequence of his careless actions. He also recommended that the board reinstate her. At least Thomas is honorable enough to own up to what he’s done and knows when to walk away. Dawn is hopeful once more and so are we. Unfortunately, the board has other ideas in mind.

Charlie is doing a great job and so many things are in flux already, so the board wants to keep things as is for the time being. Dawn can reapply for her old job in a few months. Ouch! Losing her office and job stings, now she has to suck it up for even longer.

Zach still has his lady’s back. He has faith in her and encourages her to start campaigning for the gig now by being “nicer” like she is with him. Soon enough, the letters of recommendation will come pouring in. Dawn feels uneasy about the idea because she believes it is better to be feared than loved. Well that says a lot.

We’ve seen how women are underdogs on ‘Saving Hope.’ They have to work extra hard to prove themselves, be taken seriously and be seen as equals. Let’s face it, whenever Dawn or Dana have been tough on students or peers, they’ve been thought of as “bitches.” That kind of double standard is not fair. That isn’t the only misconception. In Cassie’s case, she’s ridiculed for flirting her way to the top.

Before resigning, Thomas named Cassie as Chief Resident, Billy gives her a hard time about it. Charlie enlists Maggie’s help in making a formal decision because it seems like Thomas’ word is not bond. Cassie is understandably upset, especially since Billy is even in the running when he’s clearly the weakest resident. (His rash error during surgery almost cost Samuel’s father his life!) She ultimately confronts Dawn about it.

Dawn has been in Cassie’s shoes and offers sage advice. She’ll need to work ten times harder than her peers. She should not apologize for going after what she wants. And yes, Dawn believes that Cassie deserves to be Chief. That’s pretty solid validation, if you ask me.

Ironically, Dawn has already paid her dues to become Chief of Surgery and she still finds herself working ten times harder to get her old job back. She’s doing the one thing that makes her most uncomfortable: sucking up to co-workers. She exchanges pleasantries and praises Maggie, she buys Jonathan’s cookies to get in Shahir’s good graces and is an all around delight throughout the day. The cute thing is that she’s still tough on her students and after her kind deeds, she openly asks for a letter of recommendation. Hey, at least she asks nicely.

As always, props to Michelle Nolden for being phenomenal on ‘Saving Hope.’ Dawn has become one of my favorite characters over the course of this series and I never would’ve guessed it back in Season 1 because she wanted to take Charlie off of life support, but that’s all water under the bridge now. I’m totally on Team Dawn!

Keeping Secrets

There are a lot of secrets in this episode and in almost all of the cases it comes from a place of love. Let’s break it down by relationship…

Shahir and Jonathon

Jonathon left a career in finance to pursue his dream of being a baker, the only problem is that his cookies are terrible. Shahir wants to be a supportive boyfriend, so he keeps switching out the crappy cookies for yummy store-bought ones. At the end of the day, he confronts Shahir about the switcharoo.

Shahir did it out of love and Jonathon appreciates his intention, but wants them to be totally honest with each other. In that case, Shahir has something important he’d like to share. He doesn’t just want to be Uncle Shahir to baby Luke anymore, he wants to be father with Jonathon. Awww! Does this mean there will be two more babies joining the cast by series end?!

Charlie’s “super power”

Charlie’s case (and storyline for that matter) is full of secrets. He treats yearly lovers Mario and Claudia. They met at a conference a few years ago and have been having a ‘Same Time Next Year’ type of affair without all the personal stuff. They’re in this for mystery, adventure and fun. They don’t even know one another’s real names. Yeah, it’s weird.

Mario confesses to Charlie that he’s fallen in love with Claudia and feels torn because that breaks their rules. Charlie sees Claudia in the doorway and she’s shocked by Mario’s feelings. Charlie leaves to give them privacy when he realizes that Claudia’s spirit is present. He follows her ghost and finds her bleeding out from her mouth in the elevator.

With Mario’s arm stabilized, Charlie directs his attention to saving Claudia. There is something stuck in her esophagus, but they can’t tell what it is. Claudia’s spirit says she had fish, so Charlie informs the team that it is a fish bone and her surgery proves him right.

Meanwhile Claudia’s husband, Derek, rushes to the hospital to be by her side. That’s when Charlie gets the full scoop. Her name is Claudine and she is not a risk-taker. He found out about their affair the year before and has been waiting for her to tell him. He truly loves her. He even brought her inhaler just in case she needs it. She tends to be flaky, but he’s got her back. He doesn’t even care about the affair, he just wants her to be okay. I’m glad Claudine’s spirit hears all of this…the poor guy.

Charlie has a heart-to-heart with Claudia as they oversee her operation. She says Mario surprises her, whereas her husband doesn’t. That doesn’t mean she no longer loves him. Charlie says she should tell her husband that. He also nudges Derek to fight harder for his wife because their marriage isn’t over yet.

Once Claudia is out of surgery, Derek says he wants to speak with her because he is fighting for their relationship. Mario realizes he’s the odd-man-out. Nonetheless, he gives Charlie his contact information and real name to pass onto Claudia if she ever wants to reach out in the future.

Our badass ghost doctor has been saving lives and relationships like a rock star. Who wouldn’t be impressed by him, right? Apparently Manny. He is full of questions and unwanted observations. How did Charlie know Claudia was in the elevator? How did he know she choked on a fish bone? Why does he get away with being crazy?

To be honest, Manny majorly crosses the line, in my opinion. Throughout Claudia’s surgery, he keeps ragging on Charlie to Dawn and Dana. Seriously, dude?! Who’s side do you think they’d be one? I’m so happy Dana puts him in his place by saying that the Chief has the right to act nutty. Then Manny continues berating his boss by saying Dawn could easily get reinstated if she tells the board that Charlie is a “nut job.” Wow. He is pushing it.

At the end of the day, Charlie confronts Manny in a classy way. He coolly walks in and says, “So…Total nut job, huh?” He let’s the inquisition begin and has a quick logical answer for each question. Then Manny makes it even more awkward for himself by asking about Alex. She’s been out of touch and Manny is concerned. Charlie paints a picture of what she’s doing and Manny assumes they’ve spoken. Nope, Charlie hasn’t heard from Alex either, he just knows her. You see, Manny, that’s True Love. Charlie practically drops the mic as he walks out and heads home to Baby Luke.

Now for the biggest secret reveal of them all. Charlie brings take-out food back home as a thank you to Shahir and Jonathon for babysitting Luke. He opens the trash bin and sees Alex’s positive pregnancy test. And we are left waiting on pins and needles!

Will Charlie confront Alex about the pregnancy or wait for her to tell him? Does he think it is his baby or does he fear it may be Manny’s? (After all, he doesn’t know what we know, so he might think it’s possible.)

What did you think about “Knowing Me, Knowing You”? Was Manny out of line? Should Charlie feel the need to defend himself? Did Billy win you over a bit by reaching out to Maggie as a mentor and being so good with young Samuel? Do you think he should walk away from surgery if he can’t handle the pressure (that excuse of Dawn reminding Billy of his father was weak from a professional perspective)? How long do you think Dawn’s niceties will last? Are you surprised by Shahir’s confession? Do you hope we’ll get to see him be a father before the series ends? Share your thoughts below!

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Hey new guy, don’t question the Chief and don’t throw insults around his colleagues! The looks Dawn and Dana gave him were priceless. Charlie’s quirks take some getting used to, but the way Manny was going about his questioning was definitely unprofessional.

Great moments with Dawn/Zach and Shahir/Jonathan. Dawn can be nice when she wants to be but that can be hard to do in the workplace, especially as a boss. Also loved the moment with Dawn and Charlie at the beginning. Feel for her situation, Charlie probably does too, but as he said its out of his hands. And again from Dawn’s reaction to Manny, she won’t play dirty to bring Charlie down.

Alex certainly didn’t go to great lengths to hide the pregnancy test, but who knows what Charlie was thinking. Forces them to talk things over at the very least.